antichef

LHR T5 Gate A3 this evening for LHR-ABZ flight went like clockwork, with no crowding of the Tensa lanes seen for the marked groups. As I was Group 1 I was swiftly through and all were boarded well before time.

corporate-wage-slave

Just in case anyone hasn't spotted this, this seems to be the first report from the T5C gates, so I would also presume T5B, which wasn't the case on Wednesday. If so, that basically means LHR T5 has moved over to Group Boarding for non bus gates. But more reports from T5 longhaul would be good.

SpeedbirdLHR

T5C has moved over but T5B hasn't as there are a few gates there that are challenging in terms of space and layout (B34 to B39 for example have limited queue space).

Brashly Bronze

LHR T5, Gate A6. There were three separate lanes, one for Group 1, one for Groups 2 and 3, and one for Groups 4 and 5. There were initially quite a few people queuing in the Group 1 lane, who didn't move after an announcement was made asking people to check their BPs. Someone then policed the Group 1 lane, and quite a few people were told to move. They didn't start boarding the Group 2 and 3 lane until the Group 1s were all through. There was no policing of the Group 2 and 3 lane (that I saw), which meant Silvers and Bronzes all boarded together. This did not seem to cause any issues, despite there being plenty of people in those groups for this particular flight. I was on board within five minutes of boarding having started, and there was still plenty of room to get a bag up (not that I had one, but good to know!). My perception was that this will keep the Golds and CEs happy which is surely a good thing, and it has certainly simplified the process.

I'm travelling with my mother in March who has no status, so it'd be great if she is able to board in Group 2 along with me, if the fix is applied by then (meaning no fear of the walk of shame!). She's already pretty excited about the lounge access!

So far, so good, BA.

arpy

arpy

SpeedbirdLHR

As stated elsewhere, group boarding has not fully rolled out and does not apply at coaching gates in T5.

corporate-wage-slave

Just to say thank you SpeedbirdLHR for this and the other updates.

happyintheair

LHR T5, Gate 17 (I think) on 25th Jan, LHR-AMS


Arrived 10 mins after boarding started. Physical lanes separated into Group 1, 2, 3 and then 4/5
Waited at front of Group 1. Called forward immediately. No chancers that I could see, but maybe they'd been dealt with already.

Very impressed

outandaroundabout

By way of reassurance: even if the fix has not been implemented by then, you should both be fine. My wife and I had 3 x group-boarding flights this week (on the same PNR, but I didn't get the impression the agents were checking whether that was the case or not). Each time the group numbers were different but we boarded together. It was a non-issue, and it very much seemed to me that it had been communicated to staff that this is allowed. Under the old system, it always felt a bit like asking a favour (which I suppose, strictly speaking, it was), but that was not the case here.

Incidentally, today's (23 January) early-morning EDI-LHR showed that the new process still depends on the set-up being properly in place. For whatever reason, boarding announcements were not being made over the tannoy and were thus barely audible outside the immediate gate area. The consequences of this when there is both a long queue of indeterminate group stretching away out of earshot of the gate, as well as other people waiting around the entrance to the tensa barriers, are readily apparent…

Dicksbits

IAD - LHR. 23rd Jan. Separated into lanes. Group 1 was furthest away from the actual gate door (42 or 44 I think) but was duly called first after extra assistance. The masses in other groups were held back until we were all well onto the air bridge. (about 15 of us). Seemed to work smoothly although it was also laned last time I flew 2.5 yrs ago.

nick.t.davies

BLR > LHR today had full boarding by group. 5 separate queues separated by the barrier thingys and properly enforced by staff. There were a couple of staff floating in the general gate area assisting. Nicely done I think.

Contador

Boarding the LHR – SCL flight last night from gate C65 was handled perfectly. Five separate lanes were set up with Tensa barriers. Interestingly, everyone seemed to respect the announcements to remain seated until called, which previously always seemed to be largely ignored as soon as the first couple of people started queuing in the priority boarding lane. Not sure if anyone had tried to enter the lanes before I arrived and had been asked to sit down by the gate agents, or if people are just actually listening to the announcements with the new system. When they asked passengers to enter their respective lanes a gate agent was checking the boarding passes for passengers entering lane 1 to make sure they were entering the right lane. They then boarded everyone in lane 1, and I assume then boarded the other lanes one-by-one.

I know people are unsure how this will work in very small gate areas, without the width for all the separate lanes, but I think the new system is actually easier to accommodate as long as there’s a reasonable amount of room. Previously you’d end up with a single long snaking priority lane which could block the gate and surrounding area, while the non-priority lanes to the side would be more or less empty. Now that priority boarders are spread out over 3 lanes, the gate area actually felt less cramped and blocked than previously, with much better use of all the available space.

And obviously having five individual lines reduces the temptation for the gate agents to make boarding announcements along the lines of the old style: “We now invite our First passengers and gold card passengers to board… [pause for five seconds] …and also our Club Word, silver and bronze card holders…”

I do think having five separate lanes set up at outstations where possible (or at least five separate signs that people can queue behind if they want to) will be very important for this to work effectively and consistently across the network.

firstlight

Lhr t3 to cpt 17/1. Group boarding number on bp. No group boarding but first and gold/ emerald called together. Strict policing of this at queue. Mrs firstlight (group 2 same pnr) joined me no issue.

cpt to lhr 22/1. Gold/emerald/ first put into line. Put on separate bus to plane with preboard families (although some cw/silvers also got on this bus) Lots of muttering at the gate as if this policy was new

lgw to mco 23/1 pandemonium. Preboard then free for all no control at all

it seems that even where group boarding isn't yet implemented the staff are trying to separate out gold/ emerald/ first from others.

Oaxaca

Experienced group boarding twice last week:

• LHR-EDI from gate A7, orderly queues when I got there, staff checking BPs in queue (at least for group 1). No issues guesting my no-status colleague into group 1 boarding. Boarding of group 1 very smooth, didn't see the rest.
• EDI-LHR from gate 11, arrived at the gate just as boarding was starting. A lot less organised, had to swerve round a bunch of people standing in and around the group 1 line, who I realised were not group 1. BPs were also being checked, but not as proactively as at LHR, it was only done as boarding actually started.

No group boarding for LHR-JFK, but I see from above that it hasn't started in T5B yet. The usual scrum for that one, when I arrived at the gate almost everyone was in the priority boarding queue, until my gentle query to one of the staff made them realise that probably wasn't correct...